The Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIM-C) didn’t notice it at first, but recession has definitely changed its student profile.
As much as 63 per cent of its 2009-2011 batch of students have an average of two years’ work experience — a 12 per cent rise since 2008-2010. These
canny ‘old boys’ are quitting their jobs for a campus life not just to escape the stasis and obvious uncertainties of a recession-hit job market, they are also using the time to build even more formidable CVs to return and hit the job market and command higher prices when the going gets exciting again.

“Although the past few years have seen a discernible rise in the number of students with work experience, the latest quantum jump has a direct co-relation with the recession. Many of those who have done job stints with investment banks have opted for the MBA course. They know that two years down the line, by the time they complete the degree, market conditions will improve and the pay packets, too, will be better,” IIM-C chairman, admissions, Prof Subrata Mitra, said.

More than 20 of the new students had quit jobs that earned them salaries of Rs. 20 lakh per annum, signaling their preference for investment in education at IIM-C over the salaries they would be paid, he added.

Anirudh Vijaya Raghavan, who has worked with Target Corporation, and is now part of the new batch at IIM-C agrees.

“Though I always wanted to do an MBA, I decided this was the time to go for it. By the time I complete the course, the recession, too, will have run its course. The job market, too, will afford to hire more people at better pay,” he said.

Former employees of various companies that are popular recruiters on the IIM-C campus are now students. Some of them have worked with companies like Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, McKinsey and Merrill Lynch.